Will and I climbed Tahoma in 11:20 car-to-car by the DC route. We brought skis up to Camp Muir, then went from there to the summit and back in mountaineering boots.
It was a great day; challenging as we’ve been staying low elevation running this summer, but couldn’t have asked for better weather. The Cleaver itself is so depressingly melted out - maybe I'm misremembering, but when I did this same route 5 years ago, I don't remember that much exposed dirt, kitty litter, loose rock!
Skiing was not very useful, with slow frozen sun cup skiing then 6 transitions hopping between discontinuous snow patches – in retrospect I think it would have been faster with some trail runners and gaiters at this time of year.
Please note:
- The female speed record for the route is 4:58 car-to-car, set by Katie Bono, on foot, in 2012. Someone posted her time from an article to FKT here: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/katie-bono-mt-rainier-wa-2012-07-29
- We weren’t planning for an FKT but I noticed that there were 0 women for this round trip with skis category, so figured to get us started and get a woman on the page. We have been unable to find a recorded women’s time with skis that is faster; if you have one, please post it!